And so the Rain Fell
by The Copycat Ninja
Summary: Follow the paw-steps of a grieving she-cat...Without any prophecy surrounding her, she is simply yet another former rogue that Firestar let into ThunderClan for no reason. But even the plainest of all Clan cats struggle with their lives. What in the name of StarClan is going on in the Clans today? Dedicated to Rainclaw321.
1. And so Ravenpaw Comes

**Author's Note- Dedicated to Rainclaw321. Happy late birthday. :3 And in this Ravenpaw came back to ThunderClan; they are all still in the original forest.**

Rain showered down, the tiny crystals of clear liquid sparkling weakly in the cold winter sunlight. Millions of droplets splashed onto the paw-numbing forest ground, where the small group of felines were huddled together, around a skinny and rain-soaked figure, which lay motionless on the earth. The birds were silent as they stood on the distinctly leaf-less branches, or else hunched down in their nests, attempting in vain to protect themselves against the freezing air and torrent of heavy rainfall. Dark clouds loomed overhead in the sky. The stronger plants drooped. They were being pounded without a break by the terrible conditions. The last day of the first quarter-moon of Leaf-bare had come. Most of the prey hid inside holes, or burrows, seldom daring to poke even a nose out into the frigid world. Frost-bitten flowers died without further ado once the weather worsened; almost all of them were not ready for this dramatically bitter season.

_This Leaf-Bare is the worst I've ever seen. Who will be the next to die, after our beloved Sunflower? _ Iris thought, and her icy blue eyes were clearly numb with pain from the loss of the cheerful, fun-loving she-cat.

Her white underbelly was clotted with mud, due to her sitting position. Despite the fact her generally clean belly fur was thick with the muck, it was the last thing on her mind.

Her littermate..._Dead_! Iris felt absolutely stunned. Sunflower had been so passionate about nature, about life, about...Well, everything.

So why had death torn the elegant cat from her place within the ranks of the living?

Iris shook her narrow head slowly, and let out a tiny sigh. She couldn't blame the cats of StarClan for the tragedy of starvation. They were all battling this, anyway. Surely they would all die of hunger swiftly, and reunite with stealthy little Sunflower.

The slender dark grey tabby hissed silently, narrowing her eyes. There was no reason the famishment that had fallen upon her and her family would be kind enough to cease their grieving quickly!

A disturbance in the snow, like paws padding towards them, disturbed the mourning of Iris and her kin. Dipping his head in respect, a scrawny tom swiftly took a place next to Iris.

"Ravenpaw, what are you doing here?" The mother of Iris and her littermates, Tansy, questioned; her mew was heavy with sorrow.

Looking nervous, Ravenpaw lowered his eyes to the ground, "Firestar requests you see him."


	2. And so they Talk

Thistle looked at the scrawny black tom with a scoff, "Have you got bees in your brain? Sunflower has _died_, Ravenpaw! Why would we be going to see _the almighty leader_ of your _precious _Clan at this traumatic period of time?" Iris's older brother snarled, as he un-sheathed his claws and scraped them across the ground, though he failed to even scratch the surface of the hardened dirt.

Iris sighed, familiar with Thistle's frequent bouts of rage. She gently licked one of Sunflower's cold, tabby striped ears, squeezing her eyes shut. Her only other surviving littermates, Bluebell and Snowdrop nuzzled each other affectionately, united in their grief; the two had always been inseparable, even as young kits, whilst Iris herself had remained fonder towards Sunflower.

Tansy sighed, her head dropping as she considered the ThunderClanner's words, "Perhaps it would be better for us to meet with Firestar," she mewed softly. "He may be able to help us with our sorrow."

Her narrow head snapping up, Iris stared at Tansy in horror, "Mother!" she exclaimed. "Your kit, our beloved sister, has died very recently, and you want to talk with a cat that has nothing to do with us? You know that the only thing we have in common with those Clan cats is the fact that we believe in StarClan!"

Tansy merely looked at Iris, before turning her gaze back to her kit's underfed corpse. Despite this, her fleeting glance told Iris that her mother was indeed feeling heartbroken. Yet this only made the she-cat's temper rise-Tansy was meant to be strong for her alive kits, not just go along with whatever Ravenpaw informed them of, but all the while be silently wailing!

"Iris, Bluebell, Snowdrop and Thistle...My beautiful kittens. This is a harsh leaf-bare, and it has hardly started; Sunflower has already passed away, and the five of us are struggling through every day, barely surviving. Please...Can't you see how hard this is for me, for all of us? Firestar is a kind tom. He will help us. Please...Trust me." Tansy answered; her voice was rough with sadness.

Iris gritted her teeth. Tansy was just trying to guilt-trip all of them into agreeing! Well, she wasn't going to do that. Oh no. Neither would her siblings...Right?

As if deliberately trying to prove her wrong, Bluebell and Snowdrop spoke up as one voice, "We shall go with you, mother. After all, we are kin."

Iris barely stopped herself from yowling at the two cats. Mouse-brained, appearance obsessed she-cats! She bit back an angry rant, though her neck fur rose as a clear indicator of her anger.

Well, at least Thistle would have sense. After all, he didn't particularly like Ravenpaw. Surely he would refuse to come, and then Tansy would end up staying!

"Thistle...? Iris?" Ravenpaw meowed suddenly, trying to get them to hurry up and voice their own opinions on the matter.

Thistle shot a look of annoyance at Ravenpaw, before answering the other tom's silent questions, "Mother...You have protected us the best you could, even after father ran off, like the coward he was. And so...Well, even though I don't like that irritating furball who was lying in the sunshine last time I caught sight of him, bossing the Clan cats around, I will come with you. Only because I think we all owe it to you to trust your judgement."

Iris's mouth opened in shock, while Tansy purred softly, giving her son a quick lick on his shoulder. He would have been the hardest to convince, given that the only time he had come with her to visit her dear ThunderClan friends, Ferncloud, Brightheart and Cinderpelt, had resulted in him shrieking and terrifying some poor apprentices-Leafpaw and Whitepaw, perhaps-for slipping yarrow into his mouse, causing him to vomit. Needless to say, Tansy hadn't taken Thistle to visit after that, nor did she attempt to with any of her second litter.

Iris snarled quietly, weighing out her options. One, she may try to guilt-trip her remaining kin into staying, but that wouldn't be happening now, considering even Thistle had agreed to go. Two, she could act like she'd come, and run off during the journey along the way...But how would she survive? Her hunting skills were practically non-existent; poor at best, and completely horrible at worst, and her fighting skills weren't any better. She had relied on Tansy, Bluebell and Snowdrop to catch prey her entire life, due to the fact that those three had the needed instinct and the ability to remain silent during a hunt. She and her kin weren't exactly targeted by anything either, though she had believed that if fighting skills were needed, Thistle and Sunflower could take care of them.

Yes, she was all out of options. Lowering her head in defeat, Iris mumbled, "Fine, I'll come then."

Ravenpaw had a look of absolute relief on his small face-no doubt he had been stressing out over what to say to Firestar if the cats he had requested refused to come.

Tansy nodded to Iris, rasping her tongue over the slim she-cat's ear, "Thank you, my daughter. We will leave at moon-high, after we have buried our daughter and sister."

Ravenpaw was guided to a small cave the group of felines had been living in, complete with scraps of already dying moss, and then the family paid their last respects to the deceased golden tabby she-cat, the one with the now closed bright amber eyes, the one with the softest mew imaginable.

And when they began to carry Sunflower to her final resting place, an already dug grave beneath a tall, proud oak tree, the freezing rain slowly changed to the first shower of snow of leaf-bare...And it was as if the first snows signified the first, but certainly not the last time the group of felines would have to say goodbye to one of their kin...Forever.


	3. And so the World goes Mad

**Author's Note-Happy birthday, Rainylove. Hope it's a good one. :3**

Travelling to ThunderClan was a long, cold and often fairly fatal-at least, to Bluebell and Snowdrop-journey.

"Oh my StarClan, mother!" Bluebell would wail, "I _broke_ one of my _claws_!"

Or, in Snowdrop's case, "Oh, fox dung! Tansy, there's _mud _on my pelt!"

Safe to say, Iris only wanted to have a nice nap preferably in a warm and cosy den without Bluebell and Snowdrop.

Tansy and Ravenpaw were often discussing matters that never quite reached Iris's ears, no matter how hard she strained to hear them. It was quite irritating, not knowing what was going on.

Safe to say, she hated-no, _despised,_ secrets...

Eventually, after two days worth of walking, they reached the outskirts of a magnificent forest, and Ravenpaw turned to give the younger cats-that is to say, everyone apart from Tansy-a stern look,

"Now, everyone. You cannot insult anything about or to do with the Clan in front of certain cats-namely Mousefur, Dustpelt and Longtail. You also must certainly not go into a different Clan's territory, unless you have a death wish. Aside from that, just...Just please, follow me," Ravenpaw instructed.

All four of the younger felines nodded, though Iris could swear to StarClan that Thistle had been staring at an ant colony scurrying around their ant-hill nearby the entire time. Nevertheless, Ravenpaw looked pleased, and began to walk into the woods.

"Ugh, mother, look; it's a rotting wren!"

"Tansy, I'm _starving,_"

"Are we there yet? Are we, are we, are we-"

"For StarClan's sake, and for my own sanity, will you all shut up?!" Tansy finally snarled.

After that there was silence, until Ravenpaw turned his head,

"We're going to be entering ThunderClan's camp now; remember the rules," he mewed, directing them under ferns and thistle bushes and along a paw-worn path towards the bustling camp.

Iris looked around in amazement as she slipped through the entrance; her stomach could wait now. There was so much to see and smell.

The overpowering scents of many cats hit her immediately, and she gave a quiet mew of surprise. Felines were everywhere-ducking into dens, greeting one another in a friendly fashion, telling stories or tumbling around and playing with kittens.

There were simply not enough words to describe it. Iris had never felt so awed in her life. These cats, this huge group of cats, behaved almost like one big family. They would live with each other throughout their lives, hunting, battling, and defending one another, their camp, and their own lives.

It was absolutely breath-taking.

At least, it would be if there wasn't so much _noise_.

"Leafpaw, get over here!"

"Brambleclaw, Brambleclaw, Brambleclaw, _Brambleclaw_, answer me!"

"Coming to practice with me, Shrewpaw?"

"Hurry up, Rainwhisker, Ashfur-oh, and you too, Sootfur! Time for a patrol, you lazy lumps of fur,"

"These cats will never have enough sense to shut their mouths for once..."

"Ah, don't be grumpy, Mousefur!"

"You can't speak, Cloudtail!"

Iris flattened her ears, a small shield against the onslaught of sounds, and looked at Ravenpaw for guidance. He only purred at her stiff posture, and the way she had flattened her ears against her head.

"Don't worry, Iris. You and your kin will probably only be here for a little while...Speaking of which, here comes the leader himself! Hello, Firestar!" Ravenpaw called out, greeting a flame coloured tom bounding towards them, a light ginger she-cat at his side.

"Hello, Ravenpaw. Thank you for doing what I asked," Firestar answered, dipping his head towards the smaller tom.

Ravenpaw nodded, before springing away towards a warm, protected den where a couple of older cats with greying muzzles peered out curiously.

Shaking her attention from Ravenpaw, Iris turned her head back towards Firestar, narrowing her eyes. She didn't know quite what to make of him-sure, he seemed pleasant enough so far, but after Thistle's tales about him? She didn't know what to believe.

Firestar's expression was warm and friendly, the she-cat beside him looking a little stiffer than him, but nevertheless clearly trying to appear as welcoming as he was.

"Tansy. It is good to see you again," Firestar mewed, ducking his head towards the she-cat in greeting.

"And you, Firestar. Has your Clan been keeping well?" Tansy asked politely.

"Oh, yes. Even though leaf-bare has just started, prey has been running around aplenty. The trees have barely lost their leaves; Cinderpelt took it as a sign that no cat would die of hunger this leaf-bare, and I'm thankful for that. Speaking of which, you must help yourselves to some prey in a moment; you're all famished," the tom replied, flicking his tail towards a pile of prey in the middle of the camp.

_You don't know half of it... _Iris thought, looking longingly at the dead animals.

"However, I need to ask you something, Tansy. And your kits too, of course. You see, I've gotten word that the places you stay in have harsher conditions than we do, though it's only a walk worth two sunrises apart. That's where I come in. ThunderClan, although it seems we have plenty of young, strong warriors and apprentices, are lacking in cats compared to the other Clans. So, would you and your kin care to join our Clan?"

Iris's pupils constricted with sudden fear. No. Tansy could not live here. Iris herself could not. It wasn't possible! And Firestar-oh, how she _loathed_ him for even suggesting the idea! How in the name of StarClan could Iris fit in with these_ Clan_ cats? She knew next to nothing about their customs and way of life, and neither did her littermates or Thistle! It was madness. Complete and utter _madness_.

Yet her mother had been capable of madness before.

Tansy looked around at her kits-fury and disbelief flashed through Thistle's eyes, and Iris was sure that was what her mother could see in herself as well. Bluebell and Snowdrop just looked completely freaked out. But of course-these wild cats would be getting dirty every day.

Sighing, Tansy flicked her tail from side to side before looking straight at Firestar, "I...We accept your offer. Thank you; we're forever in your debt," she meowed, saying it slowly and clearly so that no-one could be mistaken of what her answer was.

Firestar seemed relieved, "Don't thank me-I thank you. Now, considering the lack of training you all must have, your kits will train with the apprentices. Tansy, you'll train as well, but you'll sleep in the warriors' den, instead of with the apprentices. I shall call a meeting at once,"

And as the tabby cat watched Firestar and the other she-cat in pure horror as they leapt away, Iris's mind seemed to tell her that her world had just crashed from underneath her very paws.


End file.
